(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic unit mounted on, for example, a motor vehicle as a mobile unit.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Various electronic units 101 (for example, referring to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-92652) shown in FIG. 15 such as an electronic control unit (ECU) are mounted on a motor vehicle as a mobile unit. As shown in FIG. 15, such an electronic unit 101 includes a casing 102, printed circuit board 103 received in the casing 102, and connector 104 attached to the casing 102.
The casing 102 is formed in a box-shape to prevent liquid such as water from entering into the inside. Various electronic components 105 are mounted on the printed circuit board 103, on a surface of which a conductor pattern consisting of, for example, copper foil is formed. The conductor pattern and electronic components 105 are electrically connected according to a predetermined pattern.
The connector 104 includes a housing 106 attached to the casing 102 and a plurality of terminals 107 received in the housing 106. The housing 106 is not integrated with the casing 102. The housing 106 is formed in a cylinder-shape integrally including a flat inner wall 106a and a plurality of side walls 106b continuing to an outer edge of the inner wall 106a. Each side wall 106b is attached to the casing 102. The inner wall 106a continues to an edge of the side wall 106b, which edge is located at the inner side of the casing 102. The housing 106 is to be coupled with a mating connector.
The terminal 107 is formed in a bar-shape penetrating through the inner wall 106a and one end of the terminal 107 is exposed to between the side walls 106b, i.e. to the outside of the casing 102 while an opposite end of the terminal 107 is received in the casing 102. One portion including the one end and another portion including the opposite end of the terminal 107 are formed in a bar-shape continuing to each other. The one portion and the other portion of the terminal 107 cross at right angles with each other. The opposite end of the terminal 107 is electrically connected to the conductor pattern of the printed circuit board 103.
In the electronic unit 101 as constructed above, when the connector 104 is coupled with the mating connector, the one end of the terminal 107 is connected to a terminal fitting of the opposite side. That is, the terminal fitting of the opposite side is electrically connected to the conductor pattern, i.e. the electronic components 105 through the terminal 107. When the connector 104 is coupled with the mating connector, the electronic unit 101 is electrically connected to a wiring harness mounted on the motor vehicle through the mating connector and so on.
In the electronic unit 101 as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-92652, since the housing 106 is not integrated with the casing 102, therefore there is a possibility that liquid such as water might enter into the casing 102 through between the housing 106 and casing 102. For the purpose of preventing such a problem from occurring, as shown in FIG. 16, it can be considered that the housing 106 is formed being integrated with the casing 102.
In such a case, when the casing 102 is molded by injection molding or the like, the bar-shaped terminal 107 must be molded by insert molding. That is, the terminal 107 (shown by an alternate long and two short dashes line in FIG. 16), in which the one portion and the other portion thereof make a straight line together, must be molded by insert molding and bent after the molding. In this case, since the terminal 107, in which the one portion and the other portion thereof make a straight line together, is received in the casing 102, therefore the casing 102 is forced to be made large. Moreover, since the bar-shaped terminal 107 is bent after the molding, therefore the accuracy of the bending of the terminal 107 is hardly attained, causing an increase in man-hour for machining and deterioration in the yield.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 17, it has been proposed that side walls 106b are not formed being integrated with an inner wall 106a (for example, referring to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-284386). In an electronic unit 101 shown in FIG. 17, the side walls 106b are formed being integrated with a casing 102. A terminal 107, which is bent so as to have one portion and another portion thereof cross at right angles with each other, is molded by insert molding, then the inner wall 106a is formed. The inner wall 106a is positioned in the casing 102 and slid along the longitudinal direction of the one portion of the bar-shaped terminal 107, thereby attaching the inner wall 106a to the casing 102. Thus, in the electronic unit 101 shown in FIG. 17, a connector 104 is attached to the casing 102 as described above.
In the electronic unit 101 as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-284386, the inner wall 106a is slid along the longitudinal direction of the one portion of the terminal 107, thereby attaching the inner wall 106a to the casing 102. Therefore, when the connector 104 is coupled with the mating connector, a force along an arrow Z shown in FIG. 17 is applied by the mating connector along the one portion of the terminal 107. That is, when the connector 104 is coupled with the mating connector, the inner wall 106a might possibly fall down abruptly from the casing 102, that is, the terminal 107 might possibly fall down abruptly from the casing 102, resulting in that the terminal 107 cannot be connected to the mating connector.